The house that Sonic built is about to unleash another attempt to revitalize the faltering franchise. Don't get too excited though, as our first look at Sonic Unleashed during SEGA Gamers' Day last week has us hoping it won't bring down the very house that it built. Sonic's new adventure has him once again battling Dr. Eggman and his minions in a quest to save the world from his maniacal scheming.
Through an unnamed catastrophe, Dr. Eggman has fractured the planet. Naturally, you must guide Sonic through various levels strewn about the broken world to collect chaos emeralds and restore the world to its former state. Finding the emeralds, however, involves utilizing a new set of powers that have Sonic switching between daytime and nighttime stages. While Sonic retains his original form during the day, he's a completely different beast at night. Unfortunately, only a couple daytime stages were being shown; however, expect details on Sonic's nocturnal form at E3.
The first level has Sonic jetting across the Mediterranean isle of Mykynos by day, zipping past whitewashed homes and grinding along rails set high above the breezy sea. A staple of the franchise--rings--naturally make an appearance here. Collecting rings on the streets and rails outlining Mykynos contributes to the Sonic's ring energy.
The more rings you amass, the greater Sonic's speed. Bump into a wall or obstacle, though, and Sonic drops rings, thus lowering his speed. As you speed through the village streets, branching paths force you to make split-second decisions. For example, one branching path can have Sonic moving forward along a street or hopping up a few trampolines to run on the rooftops. Some split paths trigger timed button presses to access a preferred path; should you fail to press the correct combination within the given time, you revert to the standard path. Approximately a dozen branching paths exist in the Mykynos daytime level alone.
Throughout each level, the perspective shifts from full three-dimensions to simple side-scrolling. While the graphics are still in three-dimensions, the gameplay changes to the classic side-scrolling for which the series is well-known. The camera automatically moves between these perspectives whenever you reach a designated section of a level, so there's no need for you to control the camera yourself.
These side-scrolling sequences appear to be the best that Sonic Unleashed has to offer, nostalgically referencing the Sonic games of old; unfortunately, the levels on display were so long that we were bored well before the halfway mark. Shorter levels emphasizing the side-scrolling sections would do Sonic Unleashed good. Granted, we've only seen a couple levels from the game and the nighttime levels could accomplish what we've just requested.
